UFC Fight Night 121 Post-Mortem: A Night of Attrition

UFC Fight Night 121 on Saturday in Sydney set a record for the
most in-cage time for an event in
Ultimate Fighting Championship history. It was a night of
attrition. Back-and-forth contests carried the day, along with
plenty of controversial decisions, and a heavyweight great took
home yet another win in the main event. The Australian crowd got
its money’s worth.

Pride Never Die

Fabricio
Werdum made the walk to the cage for the 30th time in his
career and the 11th time in the UFC. This one played out like most
of his others, with Werdum dominating much of the bout against
Marcin
Tybura. Unlike many fights early in his career, this one was
won with superior striking. Since he moved to
Kings MMA and came under the tutelage of Rafael
Cordeiro, we have seen Werdum make significant strides in his
standup; and against Tybura, it proved to be enough to secure a
hard-fought win.

The fight played out over five rounds in which Werdum was the
aggressor, landing hard straight punches and knees. While Tybura
was criticized for his lack of output, he was effective with his
right hooks over the top and his head kicks, four of which he
landed on Werdum. Alas, nothing Tybura offered stifled the
Pride Fighting Championships veteran, who seemed a step ahead
in each round.

The win was Werdum’s second straight, and afterward, he set the
record straight on his immediate plans: He wants a rematch with
heavyweight champion Stipe
Miocic. However, Werdum’s next move remains unclear, with
Miocic on the sidelines due to ongoing contract negotiations and
the forthcoming UFC
218 showdown between Alistair
Overeem and Francis
Ngannou being viewed as a likely title eliminator. With that
said, expect to see “Vai Cavalo” in the cage against another
contender in early 2018.

Sifting Through the Chaos

In the co-main event, Australia native Bec
Rawlings took on Jessica-Rose
Clark. Although Clark took the fight on 11 days’ notice and
failed to make weight, she came out on top in her UFC debut and won
a split decision over “The Ultimate Fighter” alum. In between the
first and second rounds, audio picked up Rawlings in her corner
touting the physically imposing nature of her opponent. “She’s real
big in there,” Rawlings said. It was evident in Clark’s game plan,
as she shut down her counterpart’s striking advances with
well-timed takedowns and ground-and-pound.

Following along with what seemed to be the theme of the event,
Belal
Muhammad and Tim Means
engaged each other in another back-and-forth contest, this one
playing out predominantly on the feet. Muhammad walked away with a
split decision. The former
Titan Fighting Championship titleholder was a step quicker in
the majority of striking exchanges, landing early and often with
his overhand rights and hooks. On the other side, Means seemed to
be content to fight from the outside, pawing with a jab and looking
to capitalize on his significant reach advantage. Afterward,
Muhammad took to the mic to call out Colby
Covington, who has become a hot target thanks to his harsh
words towards Brazilians and a highly publicized altercation with
Werdum during fight week.

Meanwhile, Jake
Matthews returned to the welterweight division and eked out a
split decision over Bojan
Velickovic. The fight was contested primarily in the clinch and
on the ground, as Matthews made his intentions known from the
start. The Aussie attempted to physically impose his will on
Velickovic, working hard for double-leg takedowns against the
fence. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Matthews
and gave him some welcomed momentum at 170 pounds.

Etc.

Alexander
Volkanovski won for the third time in as many UFC appearances,
earning a unanimous decision over short-notice fill-in Shane Young.
Now 16-1 as a professional, the highly regarded 29-year-old figures
to get a step up in competition with his next assignment ...
Ryan
Benoit endured a rough start to his week by missing weight, but
it proved to be a moot point, as he knocked out Ashkan
Mokhtarian with a brutal third-round head kick ... Nik Lentz and
Will
Brooks finally met inside the Octagon following a lengthy
social media feud and an earlier fight cancellation. Lentz showed
himself to be superior, tapping the former Bellator
MMA champion with a guillotine choke in the second round ...
UFC debutant and Mark Hunt
protégé Tai Tuivasa
froze Rashad
Coulter in the first round of their heavyweight pairing.
Tuivasa chopped down Coulter with a heavy leg kick and then lunged
in with a flying knee when he attempted to stand. The strike landed
clean on Coulter’s chin, putting out his lights before he hit the
canvas ... Frank
Camacho and Damien
Brown brought the Australian fans to their feet in a
three-round slugfest that was awarded “Fight of the Night.” Brown
lost a split decision but left the arena with a $50,000 bonus
check. Camacho was ineligible for any bonus money due to his
failure to make weight.